The Game
by Ghani Hwi
Summary: Leto and Ghani attempt the spice trance and roleplay game once more.


Once again- writing without the books near me. I'm fairly certain this scenario has been played out before in _Children of Dune_, but I'm using movieverse Leto and Ghani for this short story- the idea born from my curiosity regarding the spice trance and role-playing game and its effects on older adults.

Leto.

Her voice came soft and sweet across the transom of his mind, salving over his worrisome thoughts and troubles. The experience was always peaceful, and always painful in its brevity. Slowly, Leto turned his gaze upward toward his twin sister's own blue-in-blue eyes. The two oceans of indigo broke against each other- many words that would never be given voice were shared in an instant.

_Ghanima, don't._ She blinked, breaking the contact and returned her eyes to the wooden board in front of them, all but forgotten. Her dispirited fingers gripped a ebony obelisk, attempting to continue, though her thoughts had passed far beyond the crudely made children's game. Leto quickly brought his hand to rest atop hers still gripping the game piece tightly. 

_Ghani._

"I'm sorry, Paul." Leto's hand tightened slightly. Ghanima's eyes found his again and begged indulgence. Though apprehension wrapped his spindly fingers about Leto's throat, he knew he could deny her nothing. This new game was far more dangerous for them both. Leto understood however, with absolute solemnity, its importance- simultaneously the source of their interminable strength and crippling weakness. 

The spice trance in itself held it's own fascinating appeal- a seductive quality that Leto found unsettling. Anything that carried such power over better judgment was to be treated with caution and respect. 

The smooth taste of the spice melting within his mouth- rushing against his tongue in warm waves, aroused his mind and piqued many inner memories. The smell of cinnamon would fill his mouth and nose becoming palpable with each breath he drew into his lungs. It crept through his mind with a silky ease, but ever at Leto's control. 

"Once more, Chani- only once." Leto watched her closely before fully drawing back into his mind, allowing for others to take the place of his consciousness.

"Walk with me in the desert, Muad'Dib." Chani's voice, exactly as he remembered it, called Paul from the depths of Leto's mind, separating the curtain between Leto's self and Muad'Dib's memories. Ghani's eyes were an illusion of almost liquescent blue, bearing a resemblance to Chani that Paul could not help but respond to. 

Leto slipped his hand into Ghanima's, the mere contact between their skin arousing Paul into an almost dangerous control over Leto. The precipice had been approached many times before- never in haste and always with trepidation. The game had been played many times, and Leto knew how to control his inner voices- his other lives. It was Ghani he worried for- even when allowing his father a small hold in his active consciousness, Leto, the sentient Leto, was still in absolute control- he gave his other lives no room for speculation on the matter. Ghani was not as strong- the spice trance was far more dangerous for her.

This time, however, Leto found Paul's impulses harder to control- he felt his father gaining a powerful hold within his mind in response to Ghanima's unwillingness to control Chani. Leto did not have to speculate on the matter- Ghani's fear and apprehension of things to come had left her weakened; vulnerable to her inner voices as payment of her love for Leto.

_I should not have agreed to this game. The time is too near our separating. Ghani is weakened by her fear of what will happen to me. We are too old._

The latter thought came in passing- though had Leto concentrated upon it, he would have realized it's greater importance. Though their minds were ancient, their bodies were young- and as such naïve to the temporal pleasures of the flesh. Their own natural curiosities about their sexuality was adding dangerous fuel to the fire. 

As they stepped into the deep purple of the desert night, Leto felt his father pull the cool air into his lungs- air filled with moisture any Fremen could detect. Ghani guided him out of the entryway, their passing unnoticed by the guards of the sietch. Leto felt his apprehension grow as, from far within the depths of his mind, he observed Ghanima.

Paul, however, followed Chani without word, reveling in the stillness of the desert as their uneven footsteps made hardly a sound upon the fine sand of the foothills surrounding Sietch Tabr. Their bodies, joined at the hand, slipped noiselessly through the shadows cast against the dunes by the waxing moonlight. Slowly, having come to the crest of a dune well beyond the sight of the sietch entrance, Chani and Paul stopped, both staring into the vast desert beyond.

"It is beautiful, Muad'Dib."

"It is changing. Can you smell it?"

"The water?"

"Yes." Chani turned to face him, her face capturing the moonlight and reflecting its soft sheen. Ghanima was nowhere to be found in her bottomless eyes, and Chani did not want to leave her Muad'Dib just yet. Even Leto's consciousness had begun to slip.

_If only Ghanima wasn't so careless. She doesn't know what this game may cost her._ Leto slowly began to surface, trying to oust Paul from the foreground of his consciousness. It was time to break the charade- they were both moving too quickly.

Suddenly, Chani lifted Ghanima's hand to Leto's face, tracing the line of his jaw as she had so often done in Paul's memories. It was more than Leto could control. Paul reached up to Chani's face, cupping her cheek in one hand, and drawing his thumb slowly across her lips. He followed the line of her neck with his thumb, coming to rest within the cradle of her suprasternal notch.

_Stop it Ghani._

Leto could not control his own body- his terror of this revelation staved only by the knowledge of what lay ahead should he allow that fear to control him.

Moved by Paul's emotions, Leto pulled down the sleeve of Ghanima's dress, exposing the graceful line of her shoulder. His physical actions seemed to creep in slow motion to Leto's mind. His active self was gathering strength to replace his father within his conscious mind.

Chani shuddered in pleasure at Paul's touch, feeding off of Ghanima's weakened inner self to heighten the sensation. Leto leaned over and pressed his lips against he flesh of Ghani's shoulder- drawing a sense of ecstasy from the slight quiver of her warm skin that harrowed him to the bone. 

Even while his mind raged against his father, his body was moving closer to Ghanima's, fueled by Paul's desire for Chani. Ghanima responded in like, bringing her face within a hair's breadth of Leto's, their breath intermixing as their mouths drew close together. Ghani shut her eyes and closed the distance between their lips. 

"Ghani, no!" As quickly as she leaned forward, Leto stepped back, catching Ghani as she lost her balance and fell forward. She was still at first, Chani's shocked intermixing with Ghanima's consciousness, and then her body was taken with violent shudders. Cradled in Leto's arms, Ghani slowly returned to herself, the passion of Chani's emotions draining her strength as they returned to her memories.

"Forgive me, Leto." He was relieved to hear Ghanima's voice- weak, but without a trace of their mother. He pressed her closely to him as the last of her shock was born away by the passing time. 

"We shall never attempt the game again, Ghani. Chani is too powerful, and your love for me has made you weaker." Ghanima wrapped her arms about his neck, refusing to suffer the tears that beckoned to be released from her eyes.

"I am so afraid." Her voice came out a shuddering whisper, and Leto slowly closed his eyes, seeing beyond him the Golden Path. He reopened them to stare at then endless expanse of desert just over Ghani's shoulders.

"Soon you will have nothing to fear."


End file.
